Pão de Queijo (Brazilian Cheesebread)

Pão de Queijo! Ah Saudades do Brasil! These gems are such delicious crowdpleasers that they sell everywhere in Brazil. I make them a little different as not all ingredients are available here; so if you’re brazilian don’t hate, just trust that I tried to get them as close as possible to the best brazilian version I’ve ever had.

The truffle oil is not traditional but a trick I learned from a date with a Brazilian/Greek guy and can be omitted but really does round out the flavour.

Ingredients

500g Tapioca starch

350g Old Gouda 48+

150g Goat cheese

6 Eggs

1/2 cup Sunflower Oil

1/2 - 1 cup of warm Water

rougly a tsp of Salt

a pinch of ground Black Pepper

White Truffle Oil

a muffin tin

Put all ingredients into a big mixing bowl and mix until it forms a thick (slightly clumpy) batter. Start with 1/2 cup of water and add some more if it is too thick.

Preheat oven to 210 degrees Celcius. Lightly oil a muffin tin with sunflower oil and place a heaped tbsp of batter into every hole, filling it roughly halfway. Drizzle a few of drops of truffle oil on each ball. This will be subtle enough not to overpower the cheesiness and take centre stage but really round out the flavours of the cheese. The truffle oil can be omitted but does add an extra je ne sais quoi.

Bake for 10-15 minutes. It’s ready when it’s a soft golden puff that’s slightly hard to touch. Serve warm!

You can reheat them in the oven the next day as they taste better warm! Preheat to 220 celcius and wetten the pão by holding them under the running tap for a second. Reheat for about 5 minutes until the outside feels slightly hard if you tap it.